Ambler Borough water system to be flushed starting June 16

AMBLER — Officials are asking residents not to use their water after midnight during the week starting next week.

The Ambler Water Department will begin a system hydrant flushing starting June 16 from Sunday evenings through Friday mornings from 11 p.m. through 7 a.m.

According to the borough, the operation may cause low pressure and discolored water. If water is discolored, officials say to run cold water only for several minutes, shut the water off for 10-20 minutes and repeat the process until water is clear. If using a water softener, bypass it until the water is clear. If problems persist, call 215-646-1000 ext. 110 or 111 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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“Basically we have natural well water,” Borough Manager Mary Aversa explained, “and you get a lot of sediment built up very naturally — mineral deposit calcium, lime. You get that on your faucets, things like that. So we go out, flush it, clean a lot of that out, especially the high pressure systems. It just sits at the bottom of our pipes; it’s cleaning your pipes is basically what we do.”

Residents are advised not to use water between midnight and 6 a.m., Aversa said.

“If you ran it for a long time you could draw in sediment and dirty water into your line,” she said. “You definitely don’t want to use your hot water; you will draw in sediments into your hot water heater and you don’t want to do that.”

“If you go get a glass of water at night there’s probably enough water in your line in your house to fill a glass of water, you won’t have a problem,” she continued. “You jump in the shower for 20 minutes, you have the potential to draw some in.”

The timeline for the project is unclear at this point, but it is expected to take several months.

“We could be out there for a month,” she said, “and then we could have a drought issue where we’re not out there. Or we could be out there for three months because it’s running smoothly, we don’t know. (It’s) until it runs clear; it depends.”

Aversa said the plan is to move from the high pressure systems to the lower pressure systems.

“Each year you go out and do different portions of your section,” she said of the operation. “Your ultimate goal is obviously to do the whole system, but with water usage, droughts, painting a tank, that kind of has thrown us off with the last two tank paintings that we’ve had.”

The borough has done sections of the system each year, Aversa said, but it is trying to do the whole system this year.

In other business, the police department may soon begin asking any person or business holding a large event to fill out an application.

“Basicallly we are just putting a form out there for notification to let us know if a restaurant that maybe usually has an event for 30 people, 40 people is planning an event that’s maybe [for] 100 people,” Aversa said. “Whether it’s a music event, whether it’s a concert or anything like that … We would just like to be aware that there is something large going on. We try to limit the big events that we have in the borough because we have a smaller staff.”

During the June 3 borough council meeting, Aversa suggested a $25 deposit to make sure groups clean up after themselves.

President Sal Paceri asked if the borough should charge groups to pay for extra on duty police officers who may be scheduled to work the event.

“I’m just looking at it, if we have to put extra people that we have to pay to be on duty,” he said. “then why should we swallow the cost if it’s taxpayer money? If they’re having an event, they’re going to make something. They should at least pay for police officers that are on duty.”

Police Chief William Foley said he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t believe other departments do not charge for events.

Council member Jonathan Sheward said he wasn’t against any measure that “charges people a lot of money.”